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| Har-Ki-Doon, Himalayan Territory; c. 1984 Holding the cup ... while my sister pours some chai!! |
I AM NOT A NATURAL BORN RUNNER!
Phew! Feels good to get that out of the way.
I was not a girly girl in grade school, quite the tomboy, but I was never a runner. I grew up as an endurance hiker. My older brothers became members of a great hiking and mountaineering club called Climbers and Explorers Club, or CEC for short, when I was in my early teens. Of course, I had to follow in their footsteps and we would spend several weeks each summer trekking into the Himalayan back country ... staying in Sherpa cabins, or out in tents in the real big sky country and I developed a love for mountains that has endured over the decades. While I built some strong leg muscles intended for endurance ... I never did develop much in terms of aerobic lung capacity.
Soon life i.e. education, jobs, career, family and kids got in the way of everything else. I always had an excuse to not exercise .. and the weight kept creeping up and up! After going plant based as a New Years' Resolution (you can read all about it on my food blog) I lost some weight but it wasn't enough. I wanted to shock my system.
Several friends of mine (you know who you are) were avid runners and they'd always tell me I should take up running. There were several things holding me back ... (a) I was fat (b) I was lazy (c) I hate sweat and most importantly (d) I did not know where to start. So I started a C2-5K in March 2014.
I stopped after 3 weeks.
I did however join the gym at work and start working out 3-4 times a week. I would use the elliptical, walk on the treadmill, or bike! One of my good friends gave me this advice .. if you can't run anymore .. stop, and walk. And sign up for a race. It will help you stay motivated. And so I did.
In 2015, I ran my first 5K (my time sucked), my first 10K (I stank even more), my first half marathon, and then I followed that up with 2 more half marathons, and a 15K.
And then, I stopped training in the winter of 2015.
... So here I am .. ready to chronicle my return to running in 2016 (yes, I realize its May already ... but its been cold in Ohio).